Hilary Asoko

Colleagues will be sorry to learn of the death, on 5 July 2026, of Hilary Asoko, former staff member in the School of Education.

An experienced secondary science teacher, Hilary joined the University of Leeds in late 1980s to work in CLIS (Children’s Learning in Science) a prestigious research group with an international reputation. This coincided with the development of the National Curriculum which, for the first time, included science in the primary curriculum. One of her first tasks was to design and run primary science teacher development courses to support the implementation of this.

She knew how to engage nervous primary teachers and became skilled at developing both their own subject knowledge and their understanding of how to support the development of this understanding in their pupils. Teacher development in primary science remained the focus of her interest until she retired in in 2011. Throughout her time at Leeds she ran the primary science PGCE.

Hilary made a great international reputation through her popular and engaging development courses for experienced teachers – a notoriously critical and challenging group – making many friends around the world in the process.

After retirement Hilary continued to travel widely; walking (including long distance – many ‘ways’) leading walks; reading (she read the Booker short list every year!), cinema, music and opera, and also retained interest in science things: geology group; wild-life group; water quality sampling in the Wharfe and regularly went to the Leeds café scientifique.

Hilary's funeral service was held on 23 July, on which day the flag on the Parkinson Building was flown at half-mast in her memory.